The European Commission has launched an investigation into TikTok for potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA) following claims the app was used to influence the results of Romania’s recent Presidential Election.

Earlier this month, little-known far-right candidate Calin Georgescu won the first round of voting. The election was later annulled amid reports TikTok's biased algorithm and lax content moderation may have played a role in his win, with reports of coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms, and paid advertising significantly boosted his visibility on the platform.

Declassified files released by Romanian authorities allegedly suggest a coordinated pro-Russia campaign sought to recruit thousands of TikTok users to promote the candidate, who is reported to have taken a pro-Russia stance. Romania’s intelligence services alleged that one TikTok user paid USD381,000 to influencers on the platform to promote content about Georgescu.

If found non-compliant with EU law, TikTok could face a fine of up to 6% of its global revenue.

A TikTok spokesperson denied the allegations, stating ‘We do not accept paid political advertisements, we proactively remove content for violating our policies on misinformation, harassment and hate speech, and continue to work with the European Commission as well as regional and national authorities to address requests and discuss concerns’.